The urgent need for more foster carers in Bournemouth is being highlighted as part of Foster Care Fortnight, which takes place from Monday 14th – Sunday 27th May.

The Council's Fostering team believes there are many people across Bournemouth who have the potential to perform this vital and rewarding role.

"We aim to recruit 20 new foster carers within the next year. The more foster carers we have the better able we are to match children and young people with the most suitable carers. We have good training resources in place to ensure all of our foster carers are fully trained for the job.”

Bournemouth’s fostering team are looking to recruit foster carers from a diverse range of ethnic and cultural backgrounds.

You can apply to be a foster carer if you are married or single, male or female, gay or heterosexual – they do ask, however, that you are a non-smoker and have a spare room.

Depending on the individual needs of children, foster care placements can range from short term care for a couple of months to others that last for many years.

Foster carers are also needed to care for sibling groups and specifically for teenagers.

We offer a full support package which includes an allocated Social Worker, access to medical and education specialists, initial and on-going training, financial allowances for the children and a skills fee for the carers.

If you think you have the skills to foster and time to care please contact the Bournemouth Fostering team on 0800 781 8780 or visit the website at www.bournemouth.gov.uk/fostering.

You can also email the team at fostering@bournemouth.gov.uk "Quoting - Bournemouth Echo"

Foster Care Fortnight is the annual recruitment campaign co-ordinated by the national charity The Fostering Network (www.fostering.net).